The Government intends to open up exploration and production of atomic minerals to private mining companies. Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Prasad gave this information in the Rajya Sabha today. He said, the recently issued Atomic Minerals Concession Rules, 2016 provides for such activities in areas below certain defined threshold values.<br/><br/> Where the exploration reports indicate occurrence of atomic minerals in quantities less than the threshold value, the state governments would grant the mineral concession. The Minister said, there will be auction through competitive bidding to ensure competition and transparency in award of mineral concessions. This will reduce imports. The states having heavy mineral resources are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.